Questions
by Amnestyyy
Summary: Some questions are harder to ask than others. But the hardest questions are always those that are most worth asking. Modern AU, Elsanna, one-shot.


**Hello everyone! I present to you: a little oneshot.**

 **I was working on updating my other stories, but got a little stuck, and I had this idea laying around, so I thought, maybe writing something different for a bit will help me re-focus on the bigger projects. Hence this little thingy being in existence now. I'd love to hear your thoughts on it, so feel free to leave me a review!**

 **And, if you liked it, and haven't read my other stories yet, I would suggest you go and check those out too! You never know, there might be something there you like! ;)**

* * *

Summer had finally come back to Arendelle, which meant that all the students of Arendelle University could be found on the wide expanse of grass – dotted with benches, trees, fountains, picnic tables, and the occasional statue – in front of the age-old building where they took their classes.

Elsa had taken her customary spot underneath the large oak tree that stood on a grassy hill, magnificently solitary, and overlooking much of the eastern side of campus. Agdar Hall, the building in which all literature and linguistic departments were housed, looked like a sombre, medieval castle from where she was sitting, three different books splayed around her, and her notebook firmly situated in her lap.

Elsa loved the winter. Really, she did. But even she had to admit that the cold and dusty hallways of the university buildings were cramped and constricting. The milling around of students in the university library only served as a distraction. The hushed whispers of staff and student alike resounding across the high ceiling. Yes, Elsa loved winter, but when it came to studying, being seated outside, under this oak tree, was definitely the better option.

She smiled unconsciously as she dragged one of her books closer, eyes squinting to make out the small print and read one of Edgar Allen Poe's poems, then flicking to the other book and read a similarly-themed poem by William Shakespeare. She briefly wondered why she had thought comparative literature to be a fun or useful subject, but quickly tossed that thought aside to make room for more important thought processes. Such as actually analysing these poems and making notes for the essay that was due next week.

For nearly an hour, the blonde under the tree was deaf and blind to the world around her, immersed in her books and notes, eyes flicking from page to page, pen eagerly scribbling away in the notebook, and tongue darting out between her lips as she concentrated on a pair of complicated lines.

She didn't notice when a soccer ball flew by her, kicked by a careless jock during an intense game with his friends. She didn't notice the group of girls that walked by, singing a variety of songs about butts. She didn't look up when the university's swimming team – strapping young men in only their swimwear – came jogging by, followed by their shouting coach. Elsa didn't even notice a student passing her by with seven barking dogs on a leash – one of which made off with her lunch.

And if Elsa didn't notice any of that, she most certainly didn't notice the silent, redheaded girl watching her. That is, not until that girl had made her way up to her and cleared her throat. Four times.

 _Ahem_.

Elsa looked up from her work, suppressing a heavy sigh at the interruption of her work and the loss of her concentration. As she noticed the redhead, face riddled with freckles and with the bluest eyes she could remember seeing – she schooled her facial expression to neutral anticipation, rather than the hostile and disgruntled look that must have been on her face to make the poor girl look so taken aback.

She cocked a single eyebrow, and when that did not elicit a response, twisted her lips into a faint smile. "Yes? Can I help you with something?"

The girl looked like she suddenly snapped out of a trance, shaking her head a few times before smiling shyly and opening her mouth. "I… er… I had a question."

Elsa made sure to keep her smile in place. "Okay?"

The redhead took a deep breath, as if she was preparing for the longest sentence of her life, to be spoken in one breath. "Did you know the longest English word you can make with the top row of the keyboard is _typewriter_?"

And then, without awaiting a response, she turned on her heels and made her way down the hill. If someone were to ask Elsa about it later, she would say that the girl didn't exactly _run away_ , but yes, she certainly did seem to be in an awful hurry.

But no one asked Elsa about this encounter, because no one had been around to bear witness to it. And really, Elsa didn't pay any attention to the way in which the girl left. Her mind was too busy. First of all, she was considering the weirdness and randomness of the provided question. Secondly, she was mentally pulling up the top row of her laptop's keyboard, and trying to figure out whether the girl was right.

It took her a few minutes, as well as some scribbling in the margins of her notebook, but eventually Elsa decided that the random knowledge the redhead had provided her was probably correct. That is, Elsa couldn't come up with any words longer than _typewriter_.

She smiled to herself as she returned her attention back to her poems. "What an odd encounter," she muttered to herself, shaking her head with a fond smile gracing her lips.

* * *

Elsa had not expected to encounter the mysterious – or weird, if one was feeling crude – redhead again after that first encounter. Arendelle University was a large institution, with over a dozen large buildings and a voluminous campus surrounding it. Really, the chance of encountering the random stranger again – and being aware of it, was quite slim.

Yet exactly that happened, only a few weeks after the first incident. It was a rainy day, all traces of summer washed away by the dreary downpour from the grey skies. It had been rainy for a few days now, and no one in their right mind would be outside now if it wasn't really necessary.

Elsa was leaning against a poster-riddled wall in Adgar Hall, not far from the door to room 2.08, where Professor Weselton was currently teaching his Historical Literature class. Elsa thanked the heavens that she hadn't chosen _that_ subject. Weselton didn't like her very much, and that feeling was entirely mutual. In fact, Weselton didn't like anyone very much. And those feelings were almost always entirely mutual.

She was staring at a crude home-made flyer to recruit test subjects for some kind of clinical trial when the doors flew open with a resounding bang, and students came pouring out of the lecture hall. The bright red heads of her two best friends, Hans and Merida, were easily spotted amidst them, and after some struggling, they managed to reach Elsa.

"Hey there," Elsa smiled, hoisting her bag onto her shoulder. "You two ready to get out of here?"

Hans nodded with a cheery smile, whereas Merida merely blew her bangs out of her face with an exaggerated huff.

"Weselton got on your case again?" Elsa asked, sympathy lacing her voice.

"Aye, lass. Just get me outta here, alright?"

Elsa nodded and turned to walk down the corridor, suddenly colliding with a body that hadn't been there mere seconds ago. The impact hadn't been hard, since she had only just taken her first step, and the other person was apparently standing still behind her. Who did that anyway?

"I'm sorry, I didn't watch where I was going," Elsa muttered. Once she recovered, she noticed the weirdly mysterious redhead, looking more flustered than ever, standing in front of her.

"That's okay, it was totally my fault. I guess I shouldn't have been standing that close behind you, anyway."

Before she could think it through, Elsa nodded in agreement. "Why were you?"

"Why was I?"

"Standing that close behind me?" Elsa clarified.

"Oh, right! I wanted to ask you something!" the redhead smiled sheepishly.

Elsa nodded, silently urging the redhead on. The blonde once again noticed how shy the other girl looked – almost embarrassed, even – fiddling with the straps of her backpack as if her life depended on it.

"Okay, right. So ehm… Yeah. Did you know that elephants purr to communicate? Like cats?"

Elsa's eyes widened a little. One would think she expected another random point of trivia, but for some reason the oddity of the question still surprised her. Oddly enough, it seemed like the redhead was nearly as surprised as Elsa was, her eyes also widening and her mouth forming a comical – and cute – o-shape.

"No, I was not aware of that," Elsa replied with a smile.

"Right! Great!" the redhead said, already turning around. "Well, now you know!"

Before Elsa could get another question in – such as 'why ask me random questions?' or 'who are you?' – the girl had already disappeared through a group of students that was trailing through the halls.

Elsa knew that, even if she were so inclined to attempt it, there was no way she'd catch up to the girl. She seemed oddly gifted at manoeuvring through large crowds.

Then again, Elsa had plans with her friends, so she really did not feel all that inclined to go after the stranger. Who knows, perhaps their paths would cross again, eventually?

* * *

As it happened, their paths _did_ cross again, although by that time, summer was drawing to a close, and the leaves of the campus' trees were slowly drifting to the ground. Elsa had seen the redhead several times around campus, and somehow the girl always seemed to notice her as well. And each time she did, she'd turn around and dart out of view.

Elsa noticed her this time as well, and once their eyes locked, she fully expected her to disappear again. To her surprise – pleasant surprise, of course – she didn't. In fact, she came straight towards her, looking like a woman with a mission.

Before the redhead could say anything, though, Elsa spoke up. "Let me guess? You have a question."

The redhead bit her lower lip – adorably – and nodded, the confidence in her eyes suddenly doused as her face turned towards the ground.

"Very well," Elsa smiled, leaning back against the chair from which she had been studying. "Fire away."

Elsa knew what was going to happen. She could, for some reason, still picture the previous encounters as if they were movies she had seen just that morning. And, as expected, the girl looked flustered as she took a deep breath, eyes darting everywhere but never quite looking at Elsa.

"I was wondering if…" there was a pregnant pause, and for a moment Elsa wondered if it was possible for someone to literally choke on words.

"If what?"

"If you knew that it can rain diamonds on Neptune," the girl finished her sentence. The transition was all but smooth, and Elsa had little doubt that hadn't been the actual, intended question. Then again, she had suspected so from the start. Because, really, Elsa wasn't stupid.

Her smile grew a little wider. "It seems like I learned something new again today, thanks to you."

"Oh, er… That's great," the girl offered with a lopsided smile. "I'll be going now then."

As the redhead turned around, Elsa quickly grabbed hold of her wrist. "One moment," she said urgently, causing the redhead to turn around and face her again.

"Something wrong?"

Elsa cocked her head to the side. "No, not really. I just figured that, after all this time, I could have one question in return."

"Oh, yes, of course," the girl replied meekly, clearly none too thrilled about this development. She looked like a frightened animal looking for a way to escape. But, since Elsa was still holding her wrist, there was really no way to get out of this.

"What's your name?" Elsa asked promptly. She had decided on this question not long after the previous encounter, opting for this one, instead of 'why do you keep approaching me with random questions?' because, frankly, that might be a bit too blunt.

"I'm Anna?"

Elsa's smile grew a little wider. "Nice to meet you, Anna. I'm Elsa."

"I know," the girl replied instantly, and from her face it became evident that she had never intended to say that.

"Oh, so you know, huh?" Elsa asked, her voice taking on a teasing lilt. Taking pity on the poor, frightened girl, Elsa let go of her wrist. And apparently, the redhead – Anna – took that as a sign to get the heck out of the library, knocking over several chairs and leaving a trail of flying paper in her wake. As well as a few very disgruntled students.

* * *

Following their one-sidedly-awkward encounter in the library, Elsa did some research. Anna Oaken was nineteen years old, two years younger than Elsa, and attended Arendelle University as a biochemistry student.

That, Elsa thought, was a little odd, since that effectively meant that Anna had absolutely no reason to be on this side of campus. Exact sciences were taught on the other side of campus, where they had their own buildings, their own libraries, and their own fields with their own trees and benches.

But that was okay. Elsa didn't really _mind_ Anna being on this side of campus. And really, by now, Elsa had a pretty clear idea on what brought the adorable redhead towards the vaguer more-artsy part of campus.

She wasn't the only one who had noticed, though.

"Hey, Els. Isn't that your stalker?"

"Stalker?" Elsa asked, raising her eyebrows at Hans, who was eating an apple on the third-floor windowsill, pointing out of the window. "I don't think I have a stalker."

"Sure you do. You know, the redhead with the freckles. The weird one," Hans laughed, waving his hand around as if it was obvious.

Elsa feigned surprise. "Oh, you mean Anna?"

"Oh, you two on a first-name basis now, huh?" Hans smirked.

"As a matter of fact, we are, yes."

"So, you into her?"

Elsa briefly cursed her pale complexion for making it that much harder to keep things to herself. "None of your business, Hans." But she knew her blush had already given her away.

"Oh, you are! You so are!" Hans bellowed, almost choking on a bite of his apple.

Elsa didn't bother trying to stop him from laughing. Any attempt would only make the situation more hilarious to him. So, instead, she patiently waited it out.

That is, until she noticed Anna rounding the corner and loitering by the message board. "Now, Hans, be a good boy and get out of here, would you kindly?" Elsa said with her sweetest voice, turning her back towards Anna and narrowing her eyes into slits. "Now."

Hans got the message, raising his hands up in defeat and slinking out of the hallway with his beaten-puppy expression. Elsa didn't mind him much. He'd be over it in half an hour. He would probably even have forgotten.

Now, with Hans gone, Elsa took his seat in the windowsill, patiently waiting while Anna was _inconspicuously_ making her way towards Elsa, pretending to be checking out the posters and adverts that lined the walls. But even Elsa only had so much patience to spare.

"Anna, I know why you are here, so you might as well just get it over with," she chided gently, beckoning the girl to come over.

Anna shot her a bashful smile, quickly shuffling towards the window.

"I'm guessing you have a question for me. Am I right?"

Anna merely nodded.

"And are you actually going to ask what you _intend_ to ask?"

Another nod from the redhead.

"Very well then. Go ahead."

Anna went through the motions again. Looking away. Deep breath. Long sigh. Another breath. "I was thinking…" the sentence seemed to end there, as Anna released a series of inarticulate noises that Elsa could only describe as grumbling and sighing and groaning, her hand coming up to cover her eyes for a moment. "I was thinking whether or not you knew that honeybees have hair on their eyes," she finished lamely, looking utterly displeased with herself.

Elsa rolled her eyes, refraining from sighing. "As usual, I did not, no. Now, do you want to try again?"

Anna seemed to consider the question for a moment, then shook her head. "Not really, I think."

"Okay," Elsa said, this time not taking the effort to hold her sigh back. As Anna walked away though, Elsa opened her mouth again. "You know, Anna? One of these days, you're going to run out of trivia to share with me…"

The prospect of that happening seemed to do strange things to Anna. She looked positively frightened by the idea, but she also seemed to be looking forward to it. Elsa also saw that her prediction wasn't anything new to the redhead – she'd know it would happen sometime. Honestly, though, anyone would know it would happen _sometime_.

"I know," Anna muttered, her shoulder sagging a little as she trudged down the hallway and rounded the corner.

After that meeting, Elsa started wondering whether, maybe, she should take it upon herself to ask the question that the redhead couldn't seem to formulate when faced with her. Maybe she was being mean, leaving it all up to Anna. Then again, she _was_ the one who had started all this, and Elsa had given plenty of hints that she already knew the intended question. She had even urged Anna to ask it.

Really, what more could anyone expect from her?

* * *

After that, Elsa didn't see Anna for several months. Against all expectations, she found it to be somewhat… concerning. What made it even worse was the fact that her eyes, somehow, had picked up the habit of scanning crowds, hoping to see that familiar tint of hair amongst it.

She often wondered whether Anna's nerves had finally gotten the better of her, and if, maybe, she had finally given up on the endeavour. It certainly seemed like she had. And Elsa couldn't help beating herself up over it.

Because the truth of the matter was really quite simple: she liked Anna.

True, she didn't really _know_ Anna.

But still.

She liked her.

And she certainly wanted to get to know her better. She wanted to know why Anna had chosen to study biochemistry. She wanted to know how long Anna had been studying the top row of a keyboard. She wanted to know whether Anna often watched nature-related documentaries. And if not, where did her knowledge of elephants come from? She wanted to know what she thought about the diamond rains on Neptune. And if she knew what the use of the hairs on honeybees' eyes was.

She wanted to know her favourite colour. Her favourite food. Did she love chocolate? Did she prefer coffee or tea? Winter or summer? What was her favourite animal, and did she have any pets? What would her ideal partner be like, and what were her ambitions in life? What did she fear most? What was she insecure about, and what lifted her mood on a bad day?

What were her favourite pastimes? Did she do any sport? What kind of music did she like, and what was the name of her favourite stuffed animal? What were her parents like, and did she have any siblings?

All in all, Elsa's thoughts drifted to Anna often during these months, and every time they did, the blonde grew a little more intrigued by her. And a little more saddened about not seeing her anymore.

If only she had stopped Anna the last time she saw her, shoulders hunched and head drooping as she left the corridor. If only she had stopped her, and taken it upon herself to ask _that_ question. Heavens knew she could have done it. Contrary to Anna, she wasn't a shy person.

And, in hindsight, she really didn't know why she hadn't.

Maybe that was the worst of it.

No.

The worst of it was that she hadn't seen Anna for months now.

* * *

As with many things in life, it happened when she least expected it to. While her mind still often wandered off to entertain itself with thoughts of Anna Oaken and all the things Elsa _didn't_ know about her, that rarely occurred during moments like these.

Their football team had just won the final match of the year, the roaring cheers could still be heard from the field, where the team was being assaulted by their fans, everyone moving in for the biggest group-hug in the history of Arendelle University.

Elsa wasn't there, of course. Too rowdy, too noisy, too sweaty. Elsa was just outside, walking back towards the warmth of one of the buildings, a large group of friends surrounding her, their laughter masking the sound of the approaching redhead.

Elsa only noticed her when she was suddenly standing on the path, right in front of them. Somehow, the entire group stopped at once, falling silent as they looked at the redhead standing in front of them. Elsa was mesmerised. It was definitely Anna, but there was also something inherently different about her.

The redhead took a step forward, uncrossed her arms, and smiled. It wasn't quite the shy smile Anna had presented on earlier occasions, but Elsa could still recognize traces of it. At that moment, she knew that _this_ was _it_. She wouldn't be able to tell how she knew. But she just _knew_.

"Another question, I presume?"

Anna nodded resolutely.

Elsa had half a mind to tell her friends to move along, maybe make this a little easier on Anna. Before she could properly entertain the thought, though, Anna was already taking a deep breath.

"Would you go on a date with me?"

Elsa smiled, ignoring the snickers and catcalls coming from behind her. "Finally. I thought you'd never ask," she muttered under her breath, taking a step forward.

Anna looked at her, a little sheepishly, and a little embarrassed. "I wondered about that myself, for a while," she admitted with a shrug.

Elsa's smile grew a little wider. "Do I get a question too?"

Anna shook her finger. "Not until you've answered my question," she smiled, suddenly more confident than Elsa had seen her before – or ever expected her to be.

"I'd love to go on a date with you, Anna," she said, her voice soft and sincere.

The way Anna's face lit up at her reply was something Elsa had not been prepared for, and somehow it knocked the air out of her, and made her feel like the world had been turned upside-down.

"Your question?" Anna asked, smiling sweetly as Elsa's friends moved past them, giving them some privacy.

Elsa furrowed her brow.

"I honestly don't remember anymore."


End file.
